Sitting prominently on the corner of Broad and Meeting, across from the old Post Office building, St. Michael’s is the oldest church in Charleston. Today’s church stands on the site of the first Anglican Church built south of Virginia. It’s a National Historic Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was also the subject of last weekend’s One Clue Mystery, but it didn’t remain a mystery long to George G, who was the only one who recognized where we were at.
In the 1680’s a small wooden church was built on this spot and named St. Philip’s. By 1727 the church had become too small for the growing congregation and a new larger church was built on Church Street, but it was destroyed by fire in 1835 and had to be replaced.
By 1751, St. Philip’s was again too small for its flock so a larger structure — named St. Michael’s — was built on the original church site. Building began in 1752 and was completed in 1761 the church is constructed of brick and stucco. Except for an addition in 1883 the building has not changed much in 250 years.
St Michael’s steeple is 186 feet tall and contains 8 bells imported from England (1764). The pulpit is the original one. The organ was made in London and installed in 1768. The building has survived a number of hurricanes, even an earthquake in 1886 and a tornado in 1938.
The church has had its share of dignitaries worship here, including President George Washington and General Robert E. Lee. Visitors are welcome to explore this lovely sanctuary, as did we when we visited.
Beautiful stained glass window photos. Charleston is known as the Holy City because of the many churches of many faiths. An acquaintance of mine, Andy Brack is the author of the Charleston Currents web page that weekly reports political, educational, nature, and people issues for the city of Charleston. He also runs a mystery photo once a week and St. Michael’s was once used in that contest.